Web

[kilagan800]

Can someone please explain to me what Web does and how you use it?

I tried Web once about a year ago and never touched it since because it didn't do anything but make a great big mess. But, recently I've seen it used successfully against orcs during a party. Since then I've seen other wizards try to use it, but just couldn't quite make it work.

So, ever since I saw the spell actually trapping monsters, I'm curious on how it was used so well. Does it have something to do with your stats? Good aim? Or was it just luck?

[Mr_Ed7]

I think WEB is a great & fun spell, and one of the paper and pencil spells I had looked forward to using at the launch of DDO.

It is best used as a net-trap for monsters to be drawn into. Locations like hallway intersections and doorways.

Keep in mind that fire compromises the strength of the spell.

While best used as a trap it can be used "spiderman" style by aiming at a target and shooting. If the target is enroute it may not work.

While criticized by some, my toon in my sig below, did use it to slow down some monsters in The Shroud. If there are cocerns about enemies breaking free, enfeeebling or some sort of energy/level drain improves upon this spell.

I have an archer ranger/wizard build who employs Web comined with a paralyzer bow to hold-up an entire room full of mobs.

I keep the spell on my hot bar so a quick "tab" and a push of a number and the spell is launched!

[ArloOne]

Well that's the thing, your targets don't need both to be low. A low stat on one or the other works out fine.

If they have a high reflex, but low strength.. Run them thru a few times until they roll low, then they will be stuck for ages. Web has a great duration that fully scales and works with extend, so extend and heigten those webs and they will be awesome. It lasts a full 60 seconds at lvl20, and i've seen mobs , even epic mobs stuck for the full duration of that.

Alternatively if they have a high str, but low reflex.. They will break out quick, but you can re-run them thru and get them webbed again quite quickly. They only get a 2 second immunity after they break out, so take advantage.

Your test subjects (Hobgoblins) aren't the most suceptible to web..
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/Hobgoblin.htm

As you can see they have a decent reflex save (middle stat for them)
And quite a strong strength score, especially the melee types.

So web isn't ideal on them. A more appropriate spell would be hold person, as that targets ther main weakness - Will save.

Tho tangleroot tends to feature rather large encounters, so a AOE type spell is often more effective.. So a web can still be a good choice there against large encounters, especially any encounter with an ogre - ogre's have extremely poor reflex saves (tho high str will let them break quickly). Personally I prefer shocking grasp and fireball there hehe.

Examples of ideal web targets (mostly thinking endgame as I haven't played the low lvls in quite some time):
Mephits - Any except fire. Mephits have a moderate reflex save, and an incredibly low strength, even epic ones, so once webbed, they will stay webbed for probably the entire duration.
Kobolds - Kobolds have strong will saves and epic ones often have spell resistance, making any other type of CC rather ineffective. They also have quite low str, so they wont break out.
Most Devils/Demons - Like kobolds, they have high will and fort saves, and spell resistance.. Web bypasses all of those stats. Tho they also have moderate strength scoes, so you need to keep your DC maxxed or they will break out.
Any Caster humanoid - Caster humanoids in DDO tend to have massive will saves, but low fort/reflex/strength, making web super effective.
Earth Elementals - Earth elementals have very low reflex scores making for easy webbing, tho extremely high strength scores will let them break out quickly.

Things strong against web:
Hobgoblins (as established above)
Giants (moderate reflex, massive strength and many fire types are immune) However some of the Threnal hill giants are an exception, they seem to have extremely low strength score, so once webbed, they wont be breaking out anytime soon)
Spiders (mostly immune or extrmely high reflex)
Any fire moster (immune)
Any incorporeal monster (immune)

This information compliments of Shade.

To add to this...Web and Waves of Exhaustion. One of my favorite combination's.

[Trillea]

One thing that you should also keep in mind - at high levels, once you get waves of exhaustion, it is basically a +3 to your DC to both the reflex save and the strength check - waves gives a -6 to both STR and DEX.

[kilagan800]

Thank you very much for the input guys, I'll add Web to my arsenal and give it some practice.